Being a teacher is cool when...

you feel like you can make a difference.

I want to tell you about a student of mine who I have had some success with this year. He was struggling a lot last semester, and failed all seven of his classes. He was highly unmotivated, sad all the time, and all he could say was, "school is boring". The only time he seemed happy at all was when we were working together one on one, or in a small group (because where I lack in classroom management skills, I excel in interpersonal skills and I make my students feel heard: which rarely happens anywhere else). So the first thing I did for him was try talking about the other people in his life that he doesn't feel so sad around and he mentioned his school councilor at his middle school. I asked him if he would like me to call her and set up a meeting for the three of us, so that I could get a better understanding of the help she gave him. I wish you could have seen his smile: the biggest ever. She came in a week later and that smile was there again. Leaving the meeting, my intention was for them to keep in touch, but that is not what's happened. Although she was happy to see him, she hasn't been consistent with meeting him again. However, what slowly began to change over time was his attitude at school.

Now here we are, 4 week into a new semester, and he is passing all his classes but two, he is taking notes, and staying awake in class, and his teachers have nothing but good things to say. I hope he can keep this momentum going through the rest of the semester, for now I can say I am really proud. I see that smile all the time now.